The pact, signed by MTSU President Sidney A.
McPhee and Miao
Jianhua, director of the Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants,
also secures MTSU’s worldwide rights, excluding China, to patent and market
products developed in the partnership. The partners agreed to a 50-50 split of
any profits from the collaboration.

It
extends an exclusive agreement that began in 2011 between the Tennessee Center
for Botanical Medicine Research at MTSU, led by professor Elliot Altman in the
College of Basic and Applied Sciences, and the garden to accelerate the
development of Western medicines from plant extracts.

“This
is an important milestone in the continuation of our relationship,” said
McPhee, who was joined by state Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, at the
ceremony. “It speaks to the long-term potential of our work and our mutual
desire to plan ahead for future collaborations.

“We are leveraging our
resources and our expertise in China and the United States in a way where it
will be a win-win for both of us,” McPhee said.

Located
in Nanning in southern China, the garden was named in 2011 as the world’s
largest medicinal herb garden by the Guinness Book of World Records. It
features more than 7,400 medicinal plants.

The
partnership plays to the strengths of both institutions, Miao said. Garden
researchers cultivate and prepare extracts. MTSU scientists then screen the
samples to determine their promise in the treatment of ailments.

The
application of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of a variety of
diseases is an ancient and respected tradition widely accepted in the Far East
and gaining in awareness in Western cultures.

The pact signed Monday
declares the shared goal for “research and development opportunities for
possible, beneficial, medicinal compounds and supplement compounds of potential
commercial value.”

Iris
Gao, an MTSU assistant professor who works with Altman, said an analysis of 52
plant extracts recently provided by the garden identified 29 with promising
results, including 12 with anti-cancer activity; eight with promising
anti-inflammatory activity; and one that may be useful to treat diabetes.

This
set of 52 extracts is in addition to the almost 40 results identified last year
with showing promise in the treatment of cancer, viral infections and other
aliments.

Ketron,
the Senate’s majority caucus chairman and a 1976 graduate of the university,
has followed closely MTSU’s work in the partnership. He was instrumental in starting
MTSU’s work as a demonstration project to determine ways for Tennessee farmers
to grow ginseng as a cash crop.

Last
year, McPhee, Ketron and Miao celebrated the partnership’s progress with the
christening of an MTSU-branded Joint Research Center at the garden’s research
laboratory and headquarters.

During
Monday’s brainstorming, Ketron challenged the team to focus initially on three
or so products with the greatest potential to move to market, which will most
likely be over-the-counter treatments for rashes, aches and insect bites.

“I am
pleased to see how this partnership is progressing and lengthening,” Ketron
said. “This is important work that could potentially yield great benefits on
many levels, especially for our university and state.”

Miao
agreed, saying he hopes to draw upon MTSU’s expertise in the Jones College of Business
to help market products to reach Western consumers.